What’s the Difference Between Having Money and Being Wealthy?

What is the difference between having lots of money and being wealthy? We usually say that people with a lot of money are wealthy, but are they? Many times having lots of money seems to get in the way of truly being wealthy. It is all a matter of beliefs and consciousness.

Last week we had lunch with a friend of ours who at one time had lots of money, but lost it all. She believes that loosing the money was a blessing. It gave her the opportunity and incentive to go within and discover something that she feels is much more valuable than having lots of money.

Many people’s lives are focused on making money, and when they do, it is focused on spending it or protecting it. Is that what life is really all about? Is that why we are here? Many years ago I saw a bumper sticker that said “He who dies with the most toys wins”. This gave me pause to stop and ask what life is really all about. I just knew there had to be a bigger purpose for our lives than just being consumers.

I think that, deep inside, all of us are being guided to discover the purpose of life. If we are at all mindful we feel the emptiness in our lives, but if we have lots of money we can easily override it. We can go shopping, buy a new car or boat, travel to a new exciting place or have a big party. There are lots of things we can do to take our attention off that feeling of emptiness or urge to know if there isn’t something more to life than what we are experiencing.

Our friend said that if she had stayed in the same lifestyle as she had lived she never would have had the time to question or search for a deeper meaning to life. And that knowing the wholeness within herself was so much more valuable and fulfilling than all the money could ever be. But, she said, I am still attracted to beautiful things.

We explained that there is no reason why she cannot have beautiful things. We are truly wealthy when we know that everything on the physical level is energy and that energy is moved and formed by consciousness. When we know the wholeness within ourselves, we know that we are not separate from anything.

What we are all doing, whether we know it or not, is creating the life that we believe in and have accepted. If we believe that money is the ultimate answer for us, we can spend a lifetime trying to get enough money to make us feel secure and happy, but no matter how much we have it will never be enough. We are expecting that money will bring us something that money cannot deliver.

Security and happiness come from discovering that we are whole, complete and perfect, and we can only find that within ourselves. When we discover that wholeness within ourselves we also discover that we are at one with anything and everything that we desire. Everything is energy and it is moved and formed by our thoughts, beliefs and intentions.

The difference is whether we are in charge of our lives or our lives are in charge of us. When we believe that we are dependent on something outside ourselves we struggle and live our lives in a way that we believe will get us what we need or want. When we know the wholeness within ourselves we know that we have the ability to create whatever we need or want right from within ourselves.

We become aware of the meaning of life and our purpose for being here. Then we live our lives on purpose and we can create huge amounts of money if that is a part of our purpose. Some people need lots of money to fulfill their purpose, and others do not. When we create the money ourselves we see it from a totally different perspective. We are no longer dependent on the money or identify with it. It is simply a part of who we are. Therefore, the main difference between having money and being wealthy is moving from a need bases existence to an abundant expression of yourself.

Many years ago I started asking what life is all about, and I discovered a process for releasing stress and strengthening the nervous system which actually moves us into a whole new world. It makes it possible for us to know the power we all have deep within ourselves to create the life we want for ourselves. It is a process over time, but so well worth committing the time and energy necessary to activate this power that is possible for all, but experienced by only a few.

I have described this process in detail and provided diagrams and step-by-step guidance in my book on Understanding the Life You Have and Creating the Life You Want. I have also created a CD, DVD and Companion Workbook to help you get started. In addition we now have our Personal Growth and Development Core Course on DVD, and you can get a free introductory session by clicking in the box on any page of our web site.

Once you are experiencing the tremendous growth that this course brings into your life, we also provide in-residence courses that you can attend to accelerate this natural evolutionary process.